According to the latest market survey by SteelOrbis, average scrap prices have not varied much in the last week in the local Italian market:
Quality | Average price | |
29 Jun (€/mt) | 22 Jun (€/mt) | |
HMS | 280-300 ($353-378/mt) | 280-300 ($353-378/mt) |
Shredded scrap (E40) | 320-330 ($403-416/mt) | 315-325 ($397-410/mt) |
Busheling (E8) / (E8C) | 310-315 / 320 ($391-397/403/mt) | 310-320 / 325 ($391-403/410/mt) |
*Prices are for delivery to customer and exclude VAT
While market players await the upcoming meeting of the Italian scrap consumers association Nuovo Campsider, uncertainty reigns regarding the scrap purchase prices of steel mills for July shipments. With price decreases reaching even as high as €50/mt ($63/mt) from the second half of May up to the present, it is hard to believe that steelmakers will try to lower scrap quotations further. Meanwhile, the steel producers may have to lower their finished steel prices.
At present, Italian scrap traders are under heavy pressure. Market operators contacted by SteelOrbis state that the prices they pay for collecting scrap have decreased more slowly than their sale prices to the steel mills. For this reason, in some cases they find themselves obliged to sell off scrap volumes with very low or even zero profit. In this environment, steelmakers have finally started to focus on purchases of heavy melting scrap (HMS) scrap instead of busheling, the most expensive grade. Meanwhile, scrap traders state that, oddly enough, some buyers have been seeking to purchase shredded scrap, which for some months now has been higher priced than finer qualities. For this reason, busheling quotations have declined, while quotations for shredded, also due to the tight supply situation, have risen slightly.
€1 = $1.26